1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a method of selecting vehicles and a device and system for implementing such a method, and particularly relates to a method of appropriately selecting vehicles to be sent upon occurrence of a disaster or a fire and a device and system for implementing such a method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the conventional emergency command system, emergency vehicles to be sent to a disaster are fixedly predetermined based on types and locations of the disaster. Thus, when a disaster is reported through an emergency call, emergency vehicles are selected in accordance with the type and location of the reported disaster. An emergency command including thus-selected emergency vehicles is issued.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a device for selecting emergency vehicles, which device may be a command controller 20.
The command controller 20 includes a man-machine interface 22, a vehicle organizing part 24, a command producing part 26, an affected object file 28, and a vehicle team table 30. When a disaster is reported through an emergency call, an operator questions the reporter to obtain information about the condition, the location and the affected object (e.g., the name of an affected building, the name of an affected forest, etc.,) of the disaster. In the present example, the disaster may be a fire. Then, the operator inputs data of thus-obtained information of the disaster to the command controller 20 via the man-machine interface 22.
The data input via the man-machine interface 22 is supplied to the vehicle organizing part 24. Then, the vehicle organizing part 24 searches for a vehicle team key from the affected object file 28, which key is predetermined for the location and affected object of the disaster. The term "vehicle team" is understood as a team including a plurality of vehicles assigned based on the affected object of the disaster, such that the number of vehicles exceeds a minimum number required to deal with the affected object. The vehicle organizing part 24 then retrieves vehicle data from the vehicle team table 30 using the vehicle team key.
Then, the vehicle organizing part 24 sends the vehicle data to a vehicle management device 10. The vehicle management device 10 includes a vehicle management part 12 having a vehicle management table with which all the vehicles can be managed such that the same vehicle will not be assigned to different disasters. In detail, the vehicle management part 12 checks whether the vehicle corresponding to the vehicle data supplied from the vehicle organizing part 24 has already been assigned to another disaster. If not, the relevant vehicle is reserved as an operational vehicle for the reported disaster.
Upon receiving a message from the vehicle management part 12 announcing that the operational vehicle has been reserved, the vehicle organizing part 24 instructs the command producing part 26 to produce a command for the operational vehicle. The command producing part 26 produces the command for the operational vehicle and sends the command in the form of electronic data to an emergency station to which the operational vehicle belongs and to the operational vehicle itself. The emergency station is a facility such as a main station or a branch station to which emergency vehicles belong. In the following description, the emergency station is also referred to as a "station". The command includes data such as a type of the disaster, an address, affected objects, operational vehicles, and a map.
At the station where the operational vehicle belong, a command tone, a voice signal and the command are output from output means such as a terminal display and a printer. Also, a command tone and a voice signal are sent to the relevant operational vehicle.
In the case of a disaster, the operational vehicles are sent to the location of the disaster. This results in a reduced disaster-handling ability of the station to which the operational vehicles belong and the nearby stations. This may cause a problem if another (or a second) disaster occurs while the operational vehicles are sent to the location of the first disaster. As a result, if the first disaster is severe, since the disaster-handling ability of the area covered by the relevant station will become too small, the operator demands assistance from other stations based on his/her experience. The demand for assistance is submitted by means of a voice message or by an electronic message.
Further, in the case of a more severe disaster, such as an earthquake, the head or the leading member of the station submits the demand for assistance to other geographically remote fire defense organizations by making a telephone call or by other communication means.
Conventionally, since the operational vehicles to be assigned to a disaster are predetermined according to the location and the affected object of the disaster, initially, the number of vehicles reserved as operational vehicles may not be sufficient for the relevant disaster. Therefore, there may be a case where the number of operational vehicles is excessive or insufficient. Particularly, when there is a shortage of operational vehicles, it is necessary to demand assistance vehicles based on the report about the recent state of the disaster. In the case of a fire, the recent state may be a state of spread of the fire. Accordingly, the conventional system has a drawback that an optimal number of operational vehicle cannot be selected in a quick and efficient manner.
Another drawback of the conventional system is that the operational vehicles are organized in teams based on past experience. Therefore, it is difficult to alter the organization of the team in an appropriate manner according to the severity of the current disaster. In addition, it is not possible to assign sufficient number of vehicles at specific locations such as crowded residential areas.
Further, even if the report indicates that the disaster is considerably severe, there is a drawback that the number of operational vehicles cannot be increased easily. In other words, it is necessary to select additional vehicles one at a time from vehicles other than those organized at the vehicle organizing part 24.
Also, when the disaster is considerably severe, since the remaining capability of the vehicles within the relevant region becomes too low, the operator demands assistance from other stations based on his/her experience. The demand of assistance is made based on human decision and not on a uniform decision criteria.
Also, in the case of a more severe disaster, such as an earthquake, the head or the leading member of the station submits the demand for assistance to other geographically remote fire defense organizations by making a telephone call or by other communication means. Therefore, similarly, the demand for assistance is made based on human decision and not on a uniform decision criteria.